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Venom Vol 2 35
| StoryTitle1 = Night of the Symbiote Slayers | Synopsis1 = Wheeling down the hallway of West Philly High, Flash thinks to himself that his black eye is bound to cause nasty rumors among the students. As he passes Andi, she looks at him, then slams her locker. To his shock and horror, Flash abruptly spots Eddie Brock standing amidst the students. Worried that Eddie will make good on his promise to teach him a lesson, Flash wonders if Eddie is insane enough to risk killing students despite his dedication to protecting innocents. Flash confronts Eddie, demanding to know what he's doing at the school and how he found him. Eddie retorts that tracking him wasn't hard thanks to the investigative skills he'd honed as a reporter. Flash tries to dissuade Eddie from fighting, but Eddie tells him they're going to leave the school, go to an isolated area, and finish what they started the night before. Flash refuses, and Eddie threatens to unleash Toxin then and there. Flash calls Eddie's bluff, pointing out that the school is full of innocent students and proclaiming that he's not going to let Eddie hurt them. Eddie muses that he was going to say the same thing to Flash, and calls him an idiot for bringing a dangerous predator like the Venom symbiote to a school. Flash snaps that he's sick of Eddie's hypocritical holier-than-thou rhetoric, pointing out that for all his complaints he wanted to be bonded to a symbiote again. Eddie's furious retort is cut off as he smells something, and he asks Flash if his symbiote can't smell it too. Recognizing the scent as that of the cyborg he'd eaten - oil, blood, chemicals, and rotting flesh, Eddie notes that Toxin and Venom aren't the only monsters who decided to get an education. Attacking nearby students and staff, the Symbiote Slayers initiate their primary routine: hunting down and exterminating Venom and Toxin, and their secondary routine: feeding. The fire alarm goes off, which the Symbiote Slayers note is advantageous to them, serving as bait to draw out their quarry. Flash asking Eddie for his help in protecting the students from the threat Venom and Toxin brought to the school, saying he's going to ensure the students' safety first and that Eddie can kill him when they're done but otherwise to stay out of his way. Flash directs the students to hide in the nearest classrooms, but Andi stops and asks about the alarm. Flash tells her to get inside and keep everyone calm, and not to worry about him. Eddie watches with a thoughtful expression as Flash promises not to let anything bad happen to her. Thinking to himself that now he has to keep his promise to Andi, Flash asks Eddie if they can reach an agreement. Eddie agrees to a temporary alliance, and they transform into Agent Venom and Toxin. As the Symbiote Slayers roam the empty halls, Toxin attacks from above and devours one of them before turning to the others and challenging them. The Symbiote Slayers observe that he is overconfident and outnumbered, but Agent Venom attacks by sending tentacles through the ventilation shafts, noting that while Toxin went in for an all-out frontal assault he's employing guerrilla tactics in order to even the odds. He notes that the Symbiote Slayers are infected by the same alien technology that had been controlling the cyborg Toxin had eaten, and that he's beginning to agree with Toxin's assessment that there wasn't any other choice but to kill him, wondering if that means that Toxin is right about him too. As the Symbiote Slayers overwhelm Toxin and tear into him, Flash wonders if he should let them kill him and then clean the leftovers up, since Eddie came to the school intending to kill him. Deciding he can't go through with it, Flash erupts from the floor in Venom's classic monstrous form, roaring at the Symbiote Slayers to get off Toxin. Flash notes that he'll probably regret saving Toxin, since Eddie knows who he is and can target his loved ones - the same reasons he tried to assassinate the Crime Master - but that he's not willing to do the same to Toxin, despite it being the biggest possible mistake of his life. Venom and Toxin easily dispose of the remaining Symbiote Slayers, with Toxin complementing Venom before asking if he's ready for what comes next. Venom incredulously asks if - after everything they've been through - Toxin still intends on killing him. Toxin replies that looking at Flash as Venom is like looking into a mirror, and that he knows the urges that come with the black-and-white symbiote. Eddie states that he couldn't control it, and he asks Flash why he thinks that he can. Reverting back to his Agent Venom form, Flash responds that he can control it because he has to, that Eddie had no reason to suppress the symbiote's predatory urges and turned his back on everyone, but that he's trying to build a life. Looming over Venom, Toxin agrees to a truce: he will let Flash be so long as he uses the Venom symbiote for good, but he will be watching and when Flash loses control of it he will mercy-kill him. Agent Venom replies that if he ever loses control he'll want Toxin to kill him, but Toxin insists it's not a matter of "if" but "when". Eddie retracts the Toxin symbiote, repeating his question of if Flash is ready for what's coming next. Later, police and ambulance services evacuate the school, while news crews show smartphone footage of Toxin battling the Symbiote Slayers, speculating on whether or not he was Carnage and what his role in the attack was. Flash goes on record giving Toxin all the credit for saving the school, saying that he singlehandedly fought off the killer cyborgs, and that while he was frightening it was kind of nice knowing that someone's looking out for you and watching out for what comes next. Elsewhere, Toxin stands beneath a tree, silhouetted by the setting sun, while a surviving Symbiote Slayer scurries into the shadows of an alley. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Villains: * Unnamed hosts to Other Characters: * * Unnamed students * Surviving Locations: * ** *** West Philadelphia High School Items: * * * The Carnage Symbiote Vehicles: * | Solicit = NIGHT OF THE SYMBIOTE SLAYERS! • It’s Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson fighting side by side for the city of Philadelphia! • Lives are at stake, a conspiracy revealed – and two lunatics with Alien parasites to the rescue! | Notes = | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}